protagonist

American  

[proh-tag-uh-nist] / proʊˈtæg ə nɪst /

noun

1. the leading character, hero, or heroine of a drama or other literary work.

2. a proponent for or advocate of a political cause, social program, etc.

3. the leader or principal person in a movement, cause, etc.

4. the first actor in ancient Greek drama, who played not only the main role, but also other roles when the main character was offstage.

5. Physiology. agonist.

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protagonist British  

/ prəʊˈtæɡənɪst /

noun

1. the principal character in a play, story, etc

2. a supporter, esp when important or respected, of a cause, political party, etc

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protagonist Cultural  

1. The principal character in a literary work. Hamlet, for example, is the protagonist of the play by William Shakespeare that bears his name.

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Other Word Forms

• protagonism noun

Etymology

Origin of protagonist

First recorded in 1665–75; from Greek prōtagōnistḗs “actor who plays the first part,” literally, “first combatant,” equivalent to prôt(os) “first” + agōnistḗs “one who contends for a prize, combatant, actor”; see origin at proto-, antagonist

Explanation

A protagonist is the central character in a story: the protagonist of Huckleberry Finn is — guess who? — Huckleberry Finn. A novel, movie, or play might have many main characters, but it can really only have one protagonist — or maybe two in the case of, say, Romeo and Juliet. That's because protos means "first" in Greek, and agonistes means "competitor" or "actor." It can also mean a leading figure in a real-life situation: "Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis were the protagonists of the U.S. Civil War." Don't use it to mean "a supporter of an idea or cause"; the word you're looking for in that situation is proponent.

Example Sentences

From here, Jo attempts to piece together the conspiracy—she must become the detective and protagonist, searching for the right decision amid moral chaos.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 24, 2026

Fittingly it came from the director of 1983’s “Videodrome,” a movie whose protagonist gets a tape inserted into his abdomen.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 23, 2026

Even decades later, Jean Dornan, the protagonist of Julia Langbein’s smart, poignant and involving novel “Dear Monica Lewinsky,” can’t recollect her own first love in tranquility.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 22, 2026

The novel’s narrator and protagonist is Adora Hazzard, a former writer for a comedy show that sounds a good bit like “Saturday Night Live.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 17, 2026

After Aisha introduced the protagonist, Safiya provided the setting and central conflict, and Nademah took it from there.

From "Zeitoun" by Dave Eggers

Related Words

• central character
• central figure
• hero
• heroine
• lead character
• leading character
• leading figure
• main character
• main figure
• principal
• principal character
• principal figure